On Saturday 35,000 protesters marched through the streets of London with a wide array of messages for the G20 leaders. Some factions chanted, “Tax the rich, make them pay,” while others chanted “Free Palestine.” While the protest in London was peaceful in nature the same can not be said for protests in Berlin. In Berlin, thousands of protesters took to the streets on Saturday with a message to the G20 leaders: “We won’t pay for your crisis.” The protests then became violent as they threw rocks and bottles at police, set off fireworks and shattered police car windows. Also in Frankfurt rallies attracted approximately 20,000 people. There were also substantial protests in Paris and Rome.

Vice President Joe Biden reacted to the protest by asking protestors to give the G20 leaders a chance. Biden went on to say, “Hopefully we can make it clear to them that we’re going to walk away from this G20 meeting with some concrete proposals.”

Gordon Brown had this to say about the protests, “We will respond to [the protest] at the G20 with measures that will help create jobs, stimulate business and get the economy moving.”

It looks as though the protests this weekend were only the beginning, particularly in London where the G20 summit will begin on Thursday. A series of rallies are being planned for Wednesday and Thursday by a wide ranging list of political action groups. Authorities in London are urging protest organizers to call off their rallies because the demonstrations could be hijacked by violent anarchist groups. Protest organizers have dismissed these warnings.

Now that the protests are inevitable authorities in London are urging workers in the financial sector to dress down as not to be a magnet for violence that could erupt out of the protests. The security being organized by the London police force is expected to exceed 8 million pounds. This figure is the largest for a single operation in British history.

Perhaps in response to the public outrage across Europe the White House is shifting its focus at the G20 summit away from encouraging nations to spend 5% of their GDP to stimulate their economies, and toward shutting down tax havens and making sure all G20 members are on the same page with regard to financial regulation.

The message of the protesters so far has been somewhat unfocused, but overall the protesters seem to hail from the left, demanding more socialist policies for the public rather than simply for the corporate elite.